Fred Thompson inches toward White House bid

Great! Just what we need - another actor AND FORMER LOBBYIST running for president. What's with the Republicans anyway, pushing actors as their candidates? Can't they find any NORMAL PEOPLE to be their candidates anymore?

Fred Thompson inches toward White House bid

Well, He did say he was slow.

Hey Fat Fred.

Why does your state pay 1/3 of what most of the country pays for electricity.

Privatize the Tennessee Valley Authority if you're such a great, free-market conservative.

Phoney jerk.

What does Fred Thompson have to do with TVA? What's wrong with Tennesseans and citizens of 6 other states benefiting from a good plan? Sheesh! Get educated about what the TVA is first!

http://www.tva.gov/abouttva/index.htm

BC stated (above):

"Great! Just what we need - another actor AND FORMER LOBBYIST running for president."

You left out lawyer, co-chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee, Senator, career-killer for corrupt politicians, and non-neocon.

Propaganda is still alive today. Yup. Yup. Yup.

________________

and then the same BB sayeth in his next post:

"Hey Fat Fred.

Why does your state pay 1/3 of what most of the country pays for electricity.

Privatize the Tennessee Valley Authority if you're such a great, free-market conservative.

Phoney jerk."

Dear BB,

People in Tennessee Valley Authority area have no power to do anything to the TVA. The TVA is a federally owned corporation - over which the States do not have jurisdiction.

If he gets into the White House, and someone asks him nicely to privatize the TVA, he would probably try to do so. Getting rid of the TVA is more of an issue of Federalism than it is of being a free-market enthusiast - and he believes in federalism. The only problem he will have is opposition from the DEMOCRATS who favor keeping the TVA as a monument to early socialist success.

Would the Republican party really select an actor to represent them? We all know the Glenlivet drinking, foie gras eating, cuban cigar smoking Hollywood conservative crowd is out of touch with the concerns of middle America. What a stupid move that would be! It'd be almost as dumb as starting a war in some middle eastern country without a plan for what to do after the invasion...

What's wrong with Tennesseans and citizens of 6 other states benefiting from a good plan?

Posted by: mumsy6 | May 23, 2007 11:50:39 AM

It's probably a peachy plan but if the government runs it, it's no good by definition, according to many of the Swamp's AEI posters.

Oh goody? "Fred Thompson inches toward White House bid? ....like a po lil inch worm! Who cares? Just another middle aged male member of the caucasian ethnic group claiming their gimme's. Is their something magical about these guys to believe that we normal people are just dying to look at their ugly faces while they pretend to be God's gift to the American people and the world. I'm glad I don't watch Law and Order, never have, never will.

Tom O said (above):

"Would the Republican party really select an actor to represent them?

Oh, lets see. Ronald Reagan, Sonny Bono, Ahnold Schwartenegger, Fred Grandy ... oh! and Fred Thompson! Hmmm, they just might.

and then he said:

"We all know the Glenlivet drinking, foie gras eating, cuban cigar smoking Hollywood conservative crowd is out of touch with the concerns of middle America."

to which I reply:

What Glenlivet drinking, etc. ... Hollywood conservative crowd were you referring to? Most of the politically motivated crowd in Hollywood are screeching pseudo-liberals.

and he then said said:

"What a stupid move that would be! It'd be almost as dumb as starting a war in some middle eastern country without a plan for what to do after the invasion..."

Very funny, Tom O' boy. I'd take Fred Thompson - a real conservative with a genuine understanding of what this country is really about - over pseudo-liberals like Al Franken or Ben Afleck - who couldn't find the Constitution if it was taped to their rear ends.

Support Fred Thompson with Fred! '08 Gear!

www.fredthompsonnews.com

I think it's telling that the Republic Party is starving for a Hollywood b-list actor to run for President.

John E posted (above):

"I think it's telling that the Republic Party is starving for a Hollywood b-list actor to run for President."

I think you got the tail wagging the dog, John. Republicans aren't after Fred Thompson because he is an actor, much less because you put him on the b-list. Republicans like Fred Thompson because he is genuinely a fiscal and institutional conservative, unlike the shameless spendthrift now in office. There, I said it.

I think if you ask most Republicans what they don't like about GWB (and hence why he has a low popular rating overall), his lack of fiscal and institutional restrain would probably top the list. Next would come GWB's foreign interventionist and "nation building" policies - which are not typical of traditional Republican thinking. In short, GWB works in accordance with a neo-con ideology. Neo-cons are not true conservatives. They are more like displaced Democrats who don't tow the radical D.N.C. party line.

Fred Thompson is not like them thar neo-cons. I think he has a better understanding of how the laws and Constitution dictate what America ought to be. And that doesn't include spending us all into the poor house, nation building on foreign soil, or opening the borders to all-comers just for the sake of big business.

The problem with actors as presidents is that you never know who is writing the script they follow!

[quote]
BC stated (above):

"Great! Just what we need - another actor AND FORMER LOBBYIST running for president."

You left out lawyer, co-chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee, Senator, career-killer for corrupt politicians, and non-neocon.

Propaganda is still alive today. Yup. Yup. Yup.

Posted by: John W. | May 23, 2007 12:19:44 PM
[/quote]

from Wikipedia:

[quote]
"Thompson was admitted to the State Bar of Tennessee in 1967 and worked as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1969 to 1972. He was the campaign manager for Republican U.S. Senator Howard Baker's successful re-election campaign in 1972, which led to a close personal friendship with Baker. He later served as co-chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee in its investigation of the Watergate scandal, (1973–1974)."

"From 1975 to 1992 Thompson worked as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. He represented such clients as Westinghouse, General Electric (the current corporate owner of the NBC Universal-NBC television network), and the Tennessee Savings and Loan League.

By 1982, Thompson was lobbying the U.S. Congress for passage of the Savings and Loan deregulation legislation. The federal deregulation legislation allowed for additional government support of ailing S gave U.S. thrifts the freedom to invest in potentially more profitable, but riskier, ventures; and eliminated interest-rate ceilings on new accounts. Thompson's recommendations were incorporated into the Garn - St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982.

In 1991, he began work with the Washington, D.C. firm of Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin, & Kahn, representing overseas business entities as a registered foreign agent."

Lobbyist for 17 years - NOT who I want in the White House.

I dispute your claim that he's a "non-neocon"; I think that he's pretty much in lockstep with all of Dubya's policies.

John W,

I guess we'll just have to wait and see because the NeoCons are firmly entrenched in the GOP as of right now.

BC posted above, in relevant part:

"I dispute your claim that he's a "non-neocon"; I think that he's pretty much in lockstep with all of Dubya's policies."

Dear BC,

You may not like FDT for his activities as a lobbyist. I respect your opinion, and you are entitled to thingk so. However, I doubt his lobbying activities make him as bad as you suggest.

But, if you want to "dispute [my] claim that he's a 'non-neocon,'" then I suggest you do so with facts and circumstances, rather than your say so. Thompson is clearly a conservative, and his voting record as a Senator says so. Neo-cons are not conservative about anything other than social issues - which makes their conservatism rather useless and radical, rather than genuinely conservative. So, please, enlighten me as to how Thompson has shown 'neo-con' tendencies versus simply being a conservative. Then you might convince me with your "dispute."

John W., Any real, honest-to-goodness fiscal conservative would be a huge improvement over the Bush crowd, who have been using the constitution to wipe their rear ends. (That isn't quite as bad as it sounds because they have demonstrated that they are often incapable of locating their rear ends with either hand.)

I don't have any real objections to Fred Thompson at this point except that his choice of political party shows poor judgement. I find it funny though, that you listed five conservative actor/politicians in one paragraph and then immediately after said, "What Glenlivet drinking, etc. ... Hollywood conservative crowd were you referring to?" I'm sorry, did I get the brand of scotch wrong?

As for Afleck and Franken, I'm sure they have people who could find the constitution for them if they ever needed a copy. I'll bet they'd even be generous enough to send an extra copy to Gonzales, Bush and Cheney...you know, the guys who're advocating torture, suspension of habeas corpus, and illegal domestic spying programs.

Is he still inching?

TVA was created because the free market could not justify 'electrifying' these impoverished areas.

As recently as the 1940's parts of rural America, even in Indiana, had no power.

Now that they appear profitable, the private consortiums want in on the take.

Just keep repeating it, conservatives; 'Gov'ment Don't Work'.

I'm beginning to understand Mao. Keep your foot on the necks of the impoverished long enough and eventually they will bite back.

Wrong, yes, but I can see their logic.

Let's privatize the National Parks too! They are no different than Disney World! Right? No diff at all. Same thing. Need to make a profit. Nothing special there. Just a buck.

"The most dangerous place on Earth besides between a mother bear and her cubs is between a capitalist and a dollar."
Ed Abbey

I'll sign on with Ed any day.

Thompson? Give me a break. How many more of these brain dead morally bankrupt jerks are the Republicans gonna trot out? You guys don't have one legitimate candidate. Not that it really matters since GWB has ensured that you'll never get into the White House. Thompson spent 8 years in the Senate doing little more than whore chasing and then resigned, whining that it was too much work. Great, just what we need, one more lazy, good for nothing. Thompson is even a jerk on "Law & Order". I'm glad he's leaving.

They pay one third in TN of what everybody else does for electricity because the TVA is a federal program? Then for cryin out loud let's federalize ComEd.

They pay one third in TN of what everybody else does for electricity because the TVA is a federal program? Then for cryin out loud let's federalize ComEd.

The first reader comment on this story tells me something (because it was the first comment): The opposition (dems? certainly the gopers) have employed internet trolls. Don't be scared

BTW here's a couple examples of how phony Thompson is. During his 1994 campaign for the Senate his campaign rented a red pickup truck. Before appearances he'd put on a pair of jeans and then a couple miles from the hall meet the driver he hired to drive the truck to appearances and switch vehicles so he'd look like an authentic good ol' boy when he pulled up in the parking lot.

Here's an excerpt from one of the commentary's ABC pays him to write:

"If you went to college in the sixties, like I did, you might not know how much higher education has changed since then. Universities today are different places. At Vanderbilt, where I got my law degree, I hear you can take courses in third wave feminism or colonial governmentality.

Your guess is as good as mine.

On the other hand, some of the courses that we took for granted aren't around at all. One area of study that's almost disappeared from universities today is military history -- the history of warfare."

I seriously doubt Fred took any military history classes in college. His only military experience is in the movies.

Regardless in the spring semester at Vanderbilt this year, you can take the following Military Science courses: Basic Leadership, American Military History: Principles of War, Leadership & Ethics, and Officership. The History Department is offering Sea Power in History and the History of World War II -- and I suspect the undergraduate seminar on the U.S. Occupation of Japan has a few lessons regarding what America's military is tasked with these days.

Phony. Complete phony.

Hydro power is generally cheap because the water is free. There is no continuous fuel costs such as with nuclear, coal, natural gas.

I wonder if Joe Biden will call him "clean and articulate"?

Tom O posted and sayeth (above):

"John W., Any real, honest-to-goodness fiscal conservative would be a huge improvement over the Bush crowd, who have been using the constitution to wipe their rear ends. (That isn't quite as bad as it sounds because they have demonstrated that they are often incapable of locating their rear ends with either hand.)"

I generally agree with all of this. I personally think Bush's administration - and especially his second term - has been a total disaster. He's no president; he's a wanna-be dictator. But don't confuse conservatives or even conservative Republicans with the Bush crowd.

and then Tom O said:

"I don't have any real objections to Fred Thompson at this point except that his choice of political party shows poor judgment."

Actually I think the opposite is true. I think the Republican Party showed poor judgment by letting Bush and his neo-con crowd into the party leadership, and in the second instance by allowing them to set policy. I think Fred might help in re-establishing the party's tarnished credibility.

and then Tom O. said:

"I find it funny though, that you listed five conservative actor/politicians in one paragraph and then immediately after said, "What Glenlivet drinking, etc. ... Hollywood conservative crowd were you referring to?" I'm sorry, did I get the brand of scotch wrong?"

I don't know if it's the right or wrong brand of scotch. The way I see it, five politicians in a span of twenty seven years hardly makes a "crowd." You made it sound like Hollywood is largely conservative. It isn't. It isn't liberal or pseudo-liberal either. It's just stupid.

and then Tom O. said:

"As for Afleck and Franken, I'm sure they have people who could find the constitution for them if they ever needed a copy."

But they won't understand it, and they will be mislead by those who will use them as political pawns. Heck, why should they know anything about the Constitution anyway? Most politicians in Congress and the White House neither know or care about what it means. They only care whether a law or policy matches up with: 1) the monetary concerns for their constituency; 2) their own "good" ideas, and 3) their party's ideology. “Is it constitutional?” is a question over which they lose little sleep.

Only the Supreme Court has some inkling of what it means, and that hasn't always been very good. Some of the Court’s wrong turns are the reason we have the fouled up political system now in play. For instance, the Slaughterhouse cases were wrongly decided - which prevented the court from coming up with correct civil rights rulings until more recently. The same is true of the cases upholding the Social Security System back in the 30s. F.D.R.'s coercion, in the form of his proposed "court packing" legislation, didn't help them follow their conscience in those cases either.

and lastly Tom O. said:

"I'll bet they'd even be generous enough to send an extra copy to Gonzales, Bush and Cheney...you know, the guys who're advocating torture, suspension of habeas corpus, and illegal domestic spying programs."

You are preaching to the converted. Violating the Constitution, by any pretext, isn't good government. Ditto for human rights. True conservatives take the Constitution and human rights seriously. What we saw (and what we see) Bush doing is taking a fuzzy "the-Constitution-means-what-the-circumstances-dictate" approach. This is the same approach advocated by many Democrats when they speak of the Constitution as an "evolving" document. (Remember Gore saying this, clutching at his heart, during his last presidential debates?) Either way it is the "blank check" theory of constitutional law. The only difference now is that Dubya has chosen to use it to further his own nasty policies.

What do the following all have in common?

George Murphy
Sonny Bono
Arnold Schwartzenegger
Clint Eastwood
Ronald Reagan
Fred Thompson
That Gopher guy from Love Boat

Hollywood Republicans!!

Mark, go back and look at what ol' Fred REALLY said about college classes. Yeah, that's right... He was talking about American Universities in general. NOT just where he went; an expensive and elite private school.. (+$30,000/year. (about the same when he attended, considering inflation) But Fred went on scholarship).
You have fallen into the same trap the person whose general idea of some "Fred university hypocrisy" you plagiarized fell into. Namely, it's not true. Oh and good for you for, again, copying what someone else has already come up with: the current Vandy class offerings. Use that completely irrelevant information (you do realize Fred wasn't a student at Vandy or anywhere else this Millennium, don't you?) Ah...

And by the way, I DOUBT people care about what you "seriously DOUBT". or maybe they do; we call them democrats.

WOW. I almost Forgot. He now own's the Red Pickup. It was never a rental. It was loaned to him by a local car dealer on the presumption he would pay for it after the campaign. He did and the thing still sits in Franklin TN.

Ban Both The Republican Party and Democratic
Party From Politics Forever!

Tom O, when it comes to foi gras, it seems to me it's the libs who are screaming most about banning it.

It has been a delicacy in the Chicago restaurants, which tend to be inhabited by elitist liberls. And in Hollywood, aren't about 95 percent of the inhabitants far left elitists?

Me, I wouldn't touch the stuff. As an avowed conservative, I find it inhumane and disgusting to torture a goose or duck by jamming a pipe down its throat and then overstuffing it with food.